Updated May 2, 2025
We are engaged in active discussions with Ascension Illinois with the goal of reaching an agreement that is affordable while ensuring continued network access to the health system
Our current contract with Ascension Illinois remains in effect through June 30, 2025 for people enrolled in our employer-sponsored commercial plans, Medicare Advantage plans and Individual Family Plan (IFP) plans.
In the event we are unable to reach an agreement, Ascension’s hospitals, facilities and physicians in Illinois would be out of network for the following benefit plans, effective July 1, 2025:
- UnitedHealthcare employer sponsored commercial plans
- UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans, including Group Retiree and Dual Special Needs Plans (DSNP)
- IFP
Our negotiation impacts the following Ascension Illinois hospitals:
- Alexian Brothers Medical Center
- St. Alexius Medical Center
- St. Joseph Hospital – Chicago
Ascension Illinois is seeking a nearly 15% price hike in the first year of our contract for their hospitals. Ascension’s proposal is not affordable or realistic for the people and employers we serve.
Ascension’s proposal would significantly drive-up premiums and out-of-pocket costs for the people we serve as well as the cost of doing business for employers.
Approximately 70% of Ascension Illinois’ proposed price hikes for our commercial plans would be paid out of the operating budgets of self-insured employers.
Ascension Illinois’ rate demands would directly drive-up health care costs for our self-insured customers given that these employers pay the cost of their employees’ medical bills themselves rather than relying on UnitedHealthcare to pay those claims. The majority of our commercial members in Illinois are enrolled in self-insured plans.
As the prices for health care continue to rise, employers have less money available to help grow their business through things like investments in new technologies or increase salaries for employees.
Ascension Illinois is also asking for a significant increase for our Medicare Advantage plans that would make them the highest cost health system in our network in the Chicago market.
Agreeing to Ascension Illinois’ proposal would not only significantly drive-up overall health care costs, but it would also have a direct impact on the benefits our Medicare Advantage members rely on.
We are proposing meaningful rate increases that would ensure the health system continues to be reimbursed at market-competitive rates.
We continue to compromise as part of good-faith negotiation. We proposed extending our current contract, which would have allowed additional time to negotiate without putting members in the middle. Ascension Illinois refused and is unnecessarily creating anxiety for the people we collectively serve.
In the event Ascension Illinois leaves our network, people enrolled in our Group Retiree PPO plans may still receive care.
Group Retiree PPO members may still receive care from an Ascension Illinois physician as an out-of-network provider, if they are a Medicare-approved provider that accepts the plan. Their share of the cost will be the same as if they were part of the network.
UnitedHealthcare Group Retiree members are encouraged to speak with their physician to confirm they will continue to see them, regardless of their network status.
For additional information about our Group Retiree plan as well as information on how to find a provider in their area, UnitedHealthcare members should go to retiree.uhc.com.
We remain committed to continued good-faith negotiation with the goal of reaching an agreement that’s sustainable for consumers and local employers.
We know the relationship people have with their health care providers is not only important; it’s personal. That is why our top priority is to renew our relationship with Ascension Illinois so the people we serve have continued access to the hospitals they know and trust for their health care needs. We are committed to meeting with the health system as often as it takes to reach a new agreement.